the Way of the Turtle

8.9 Mile Run at the Greenport PCA, Greenport-Stockport Trail, & Harrier Hill Park
Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Tough "run" today (there was a lot of walking involved). I took two water bottles with me - wish I'd had three, the heat and humidity were vicious. Started at at the Greenport Conservation Area, then took the Greenport-Stockport Trail over to Harrier Hill. Much of that was wooded and not too bad - until the last 3/4 of a mile, which was out in brutally sunny fields and featured a gravel trail surface, neither of which was conducive for good running. By the time I left Harrier Hill I'd used up one bottle and was definitely feeling the effects of the heat. Anything resembling an uphill meant walking.

Once I got back to the main trail at the Greenport PCA I hit the 2nd challenge - swarms of deerflies. I would blame my forgetting to use bug spray, but realistically - that doesn't do much to drive them off, and by that time I might have sweated much of it off anyway, because I was well and truly drenched.

Hardly anyone else around, so maybe everybody else is smarter than I am... in any case I was awfully pleased to finally get back to the car, change into some drier clothes, and head off to find some cold drinks. I've enjoyed all my previous visits to these trails, and today definitely had some nice moments (like the old trees along the trail between Greenport and Harrier Hills, including a wonderful massive old oak.) But overall it was definitely a slog, and I'm really hoping for better conditions Saturday morning in New Hampshire... hopefully starting at 6:30 AM (!) will help.

JMH